JK Rowling’s book ruse is a cautionary tale for unknown writers
Joan Smith: The Cuckoo's Calling became an instant bestseller once the Rowling brand was revealed – a sad indictment of publishing
Collected Stories of Rumpole by John Mortimer – review
Rumpole was conceived for the screen, but John Mortimer's enduring comic creation is a joy on the page, too, writed Natasha Tripney
When readers become stalkers
The case of a reader attacking a crime writer at a book signing is just the latest in a string of incidents that could be out of a Stephen King novel, writes John Dugdale
Holiday reading: The best books to pack this summer
Our favourite fiction, non-fiction and crime books for the ultimate holiday escape
Why are Nordic detective stories/films so successful?
Readers answer other readers' questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts
Crime fiction: the new punk?
Just as the Sex Pistols invigorated a hidebound rock establishment, so contemporary noir could wake up literary novels to a wider world
The Devil and the River by RJ Ellory – review
In his first thriller since the 'sock-puppet' scandal, RJ Ellory conjures up genuine chills with voodoo, murder and gothic southern dynasties, writes Alison Flood
Lynda La Plante, screenwriter and novelist – portrait of the artist
Lynda La Plante explains why spending plenty of time with criminals and prostitutes has been essential to her career – and why cow dung isn't art
Is this the end of fiction’s genre wars?
Stuart Kelly: Has the question of genre in fiction become 'a flimsy irrelevence' or will the mores of the book trade maintain the distinctions?
Bestselling writers know that image counts
John Dugdale: Robert Langdon, Harry Potter, Lisbeth Salander – you can picture them instantly. Visually memorable characters are making a welcome comeback to crime and thriller novels
Music to murder to: crime writers on their killer soundtracks
Martyn Waites: You're more likely to see other crime writers at gigs than literary events, so what role does music have in the creation of crime fiction?
John Grisham to publish A Time to Kill sequel
Author's next thriller Sycamore Row will see heroic lawyer of Grisham's 1988 bestseller 'fight for justice' once again
John Dalton obituary
Other lives: Writer and teacher who was committed to the community arts movement in Birmingham
Have 40 years of mobile phones given literature bad lines?
John Dugdale: They may have made communication easier, but they have laid waste to many fictional devices
Jamal Mahjoub: ‘My wife says Parker Bilal is much nicer’
Jamal Mahjoub is living a double life, as a literary novelist and a crime writer. He talks to John Crace about juggling two identities, an inherited love of Alistair Maclean, and his passion for Cairo